Jordan Ayan, CEO of SubscriberMail, one of the country's leading email marketing service providers shares thoughts on marketing using technology, email marketing and whatever else catches his fancy.

TED Conference

March 18, 2008

Every year at TED there are some cool new technology introductions. This year was no exception, and one that really captured my attention was a new "pen." It is actually much more than your average pen however. It is called the Pulse SmartPen by a company called LiveScribe. What makes this device interesting is that when you take notes (using special note paper), it captures the ambient sound in the room where you are writing. Later, if you want to review your notes, you can tap the pen to any word on the page, and it will play back what was going on at the time you took the note.

This is a fantastic concept for any situation where you need to take notes, but might want more detail (a lecture in school for example). The pen has a variety of other functions too. For example, if you have a phrase that you have written down, you can touch the pen to the phrase, and it will repeat it back to you in a foreign language. Another feature is that you can write down numbers, and then arithmetic statements such a plus or minus. By touching the numbers and math statement, plus adding an equal sign, the pen will give you the correct answer to the math problem.

The pen is not available yet, but will sell in both one and two gigabyte models for under $200.

March 14, 2008

When I was out at TED this year I ran into Seth Godin. I wish I had more time to spend with him as I think he is a marketing genius. He's often referred to as a guru. I think that is the wrong moniker. I think he is really a marketing philosopher. Sometimes he makes simple statements that boil things down to their essential nature. Today he posted the following:

"Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over."

If more salespeople and marketers paid attention to this advice, the world would definitely be much more enjoyable (and less annoying).

March 12, 2008

I my earlier post titled A Stroke of Genius, I posted some details about Jill Bolte Taylor's fabulous TED talk this year. This is the scientist who experienced a stroke, realized what was happening to her, and made amazing note of the experience. Her talk was rated as one of the most amazing presentations at any TED. TED has posted this amazing talk on-line, and is something that you must see. It is eye opening and an incredible story.

John Hodgman, better known as PC from last year's Apple commercials, as well as a very funny Daily Show contributor was caught on film at TED using a Mac by Erik Charlton. Read Erik's flickr posting for a real laugh, and a great story behind this picture.

Hodgman presented an extremely humorous program on his encounter with aliens.

March 04, 2008

If you read my earlier post about customer service at ProFlowers, and the great way they handled it when they goofed on one of my orders, there is an update. Today, I received the following:

The Art of Fresher Flowers' is not just a motto, it's our mission. That's why we want to take this opportunity to offer our most sincere apologies that the bouquet you sent did not meet your standards - or ours. Our goal is to ensure every last bud, leaf, and stem is delivered just-picked-this-moment fresh, and while mistakes will occur with such a fragile and perishable product, we very much regret that we failed to live up to your expectations.

We hope you'll give us a second chance. To make your next purchase with us even better, we'd like to give you 20% off your next ProFlowers order*.

As you know, all of the bouquets at ProFlowers are delivered direct from the fields to guarantee freshness, which is why we offer a refund or replacement, no questions asked, if you are not completely happy. We are able to offer our unique 7-Day Freshness Guarantee as a result of our comprehensive three-point Quality Assurance Program, including:

Careful screening of our growers to ensure the quality of their flowers meets our uncompromising standards, Thorough inspection of our flowers to confirm each one meets strict criteria for appearance, quality, size, freshness, and vase life,Continuous research to find innovations in flower foods, flower heredity, environmental acceptance, packaging and shipping processes, and other areas,We put the same care into our flowers and plants as you do in selecting them for friends and family. And, with your 20% discount, why wait? You can browse our current selection of fresh flowers and plants, including seasonal favorites, by clicking here.

Or, save your 20% discount for a special event or holiday - it's your discount to use anytime in the next month, so be sure to save this link!

TED had one last minute addition to the speakers list. A young fellow by the name of Johnny Lee. Lee is a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University brilliant young technologist, who on his own, without any funding figured out that there is more power in a WiiRemote than simply helping your backhand in a video game. Lee presented two ideas he developed using the WiiRemote. The first allows a user with a computer, LCD projector, remote and white-board to turn their regular cheap white-board into a digital capture white board. He also showed how it can be set up to do heard tracking. Both of these ideas are explained in the video clips below.

What is significant is two fold. First he has definitely developed some cool interactive technology. But more importantly is the fact that his idea has spread far and wide through the power of YouTube. A total of 3.9 million people (more viewers than many network television shows) have downloaded the video on head tracking. Another 1.2 million have downloaded the white board video. If any marketer has ever doubted the power of a viral message, this should eliminate any doubt.

What I love about the age of the web, is that an old adage has become a truth. Build a great product and the world will beat a path to your door. Just ask Johnny.

February 28, 2008

A few years ago, TED launched the TED prize. Three talented individuals are selected each year to receive the prize which consists of $100,000 in cash PLUS (and this is the really valuable part) one wish. The concept is that the TED community will rally around the wish and help make it come true.

This year's three winners are

The first winner is David Eggers. He saw a need to He developed a program to get writers to help tutor kids in troubled school areas. The tutoring center behind a Pirate Supply store in California, and a SuperHero supply store in Brooklyn and a Space Travel Supply Company in Seattle, and a Spy Supply store in Chicago. The brilliance of this project is that they create a wonderful environment where kids want to go, and once they get in there, they get one-on-one attention to help them with their writing. Dave's wish is to get 1000 creative individuals working with students in different ways. The web site onceuponaschool.org will document different ways that you can get involved.

The second winner is Neil Turok, a theoretical physics professor from Cambridge who has put forward the concept of the Endless Universe. Neil is originally from Africa. He started an organization to help educate students in Africa and to help them get the high level of education they need there, aqs opposed to going abroad. The organization he developed is called the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). His wish is to create a network of AIM"s centers across Africa designed to help achieve his educational objective. His dream is that the next Einstien will come from Africa.

The third winner is Karen Armstrong. She is one of the foremost students of world religions and traditions. Her wish is based on a beautiful premise. According to her, the underpinning of all three of the Abrahamic religions is The Golden Rule. As such, she wants to establish an organization with a charter of compassion that will bring together leaders of the Christian, Judaic and Muslim faiths to work together to build on the concepts of universal justice and respect that is core to all three religions.

I heard about a great website here at TED. If you want to look at data spread across the world, check outWorldmapper. This site spreads nearly 400 data elements across global maps but represents the data by changing the size of the countries on the map. The example here shows ownership of personal computers.

Pangea Day is one of the wishes that came out of the TED prize program. Two years ago, film maker Jehane Noujaim stated "I wish to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film." On May 10th, 2008 that her wish will be granted. There is not much to say about this video promoting the event other than - watch.

Syndication

Books I'm reading

Brian Selznick: The Invention of Hugo CabretThis is an absolutely gorgeous, stunning, book. The illustrations are some of the best I have ever seen in any book, and the author marries the story with the images in a very creative and unusual way. This was a TED book club selection. (*****)